Getting My American Drivers Licence.....Woohoo!

So as i keep saying I have been in this country a full seven years now! surprisingly though I haven't ever had an American license in all of that time. This is mostly because we have only had one car and because my husband has been in full time school and work. So the first week that my parents where here they offered to watch the kids while i went in to get my written test done. which i would have done almost perfectly had they not had the alcohol limit questions (I don't drink) or the insurance ones in there. otherwise i did fine (don't know why i was so nervous).

Thankfully my parents where here to take care of the kids while i practiced. Then three weeks later took the final driven test, which by the way is WAY EASIER THEN IN NEW ZEALAND!!! (again don't know why i was so nervous) ... then today i got my drivers licence in the mail! WOOHOO it is so liberating. now the kids can finally go to after school classes if they want and i can go out to see family and friends and do errands on my own!..... well after we buy that second car...LOL!

PS so thankful to my parents for helping me out with all the babysitting!

This is what my kids do while mummy posts on her blog...

So while i was posting my last post my youngest daughter and son decided it would be a good idea to do this.....

the funny thing is that when his dad was his age he did the same thing!

Mum and Dads Arrival!

Week One of Mum and Dads Stay.

Mum and Dad where excited to do a lot of firsts in America. The first thing they where excited to do was take the kids to the bus stop where they saw a yellow school bus for the first time. They got to have there first drive through food the first day they where here at a local Carls Jr.... and got to find out what it was like to have no air conditioning in a hot climate when our AC broke!... They got to see mine and Vicky s homes, got to see an American grocery store for the first time which mum was fascinated with (as you can see in the pictures) . we took them to a big bulk store (sams club) and then to Walmart which has to be in every American experience. They went to see a Utah "DI" (deseret industries a big second hand store) They got to see a mall, a red box movie rental and commuter rail. They where fascinated with how large our ovens where and the microwave hood above the stove, dad loved the ice in the fridge that made itself and the air conditioning system in American houses. They had to get used to driving on the opposite side of the road and the largeness of cars here. Dad loved the big trucks that every family seemed to own. They also got to see our church on Sunday which they kept talking about (apparently it was very good and in-lighting). Mum, My sister Vicky and I also got to see woman's conference together....which was awesome!

i think one of there favorite things to see was the famous temple square in the center of Utah. There was so much to do and see there for a tourist that it took them a total of three days to see it all. Dad did not enjoy the heat at all that day though. Mum however seemed to think it was a nice dry heat.

The part i liked the most however was all the wonderful recipes from home they shared with us. They took the time to find ingredients that where harder to find in America too, which i appreciated finding out since i had been without some of my fav recipes for seven years. They left with me a wonderful cook book that my sister made back home which was like finding treasure to me..... it was a fantastic week!!

Seeing my Mum and Dad after almost seven years!

New Zealand my home is half a world away from here. A journey that involves at least two airplane rides and a good 16 hours of travel, not to mention the cost of the journey is not an easy one to make. But my parents did it! After almost seven long years of not seeing each other it was more then due... My parents had seen my oldest daughter grow from birth until her first steps and after that they have seen nothing but photos, had phone calls and an occasional skype call over the internet. They missed four other births (one that was still born) and three that had never seen anyone from my family... that was until September this year!

My parents got here in one piece! there first big journey together. All for two daughters, two sons in law and seven grandchildren. The only thing that went wrong was them arriving with no bags (apparently they decided it would be more fun in Alaska).

What a wonderful moment it was to finally see them again. My children had all fallen asleep waiting for them (they did arrive in the middle of the night) but all got up one by one when they heard them come in the house. There was no shyness when they meet to the point that my three year old even ran into my fathers hands and sat there stroking his face for a good ten to twenty minutes. My parents got all the goodies they could find in the one bag that managed to make it to Utah for all the kids, which of course got them very excited! and slowly one by one they went back to bed only this time and for the first time in there lives with there grandparents to tuck them in. That night i went to bed smiling. My husband turned to me and said "are you happy?" I couldn't hold it in and i smiled back to him saying "Yes!"

11 Months and already starting to walk

I cannot beleive my son is turning one at the end of the month! He is such a delight to be around. Today he took two steps! at ten months he was standing on his own and at eleven months he was getting his frist two teeth. It was so awesome but makes me sad at the same time. I don't want my little boy to grow up! We already have some of his gifts waiting on a high shelf and will get the others in two weeks or so. Hes such a sweet boy funny too and has stolen his mothers heart.